BOSTON -- Compassionate. Forthcoming. Jovial. Grateful. Caring. Those are just a few words used by Larry Aaronson to describe Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of two brothers suspected in Monday's Boston Marathon bombing and the subject of a massive manhunt.

Aaronson, a former neighbor of Tsarnaev, spoke to CNN Friday morning, explaining that he knew the 19-year-old when he was in high school.

"He was a lovely, lovely kid," Aaronson said. "I'm not trying to protect or cover up. This is what I know him to be. ... He was a wonderful kid."